London has been battered by 50mph winds that have felled trees and caused travel chaos. Powerful gusts swept across the capital as the Met Office issued a yellow "be aware" weather alert for most of the country.

Grafton boss: ‘UK could stand doubling of interest rates’

The UK’s recovery is strong enough to withstand a doubling of interest rates, the head of builders’ merchant Grafton said today.

Speaking on the fifth anniversary of interest rates pegged at a record low 0.5%, chief executive Gavin Slark cheered a broadening economic recovery and Government measures to boost the housing market.

In the UK the FTSE 250 firm — which trades under the Buildbase, Plumbase and Selco brands — saw merchanting revenue rise 6.7% to £1.39 billion in 2013 while operating profits jumped almost 20% to £75.9 million. Sales in the first two months of 2014 were nearly 10% ahead of last year when much of the country was blanketed with snow.

Slark said that even if rates doubled from their current level borrowing costs would still be cheap by historic standards. He added: “There does seem to be some resilience in this recovery we have now. I see a gradual recovery with a few speed bumps along the way.”